Promoter, Executive Vice-Chairman and Whole-time Director
Sustainable action has never been more critical. Today, the need for embracing sustainability transcends beyond - combating climate change and creating social equality - to foster innovation, build trust and steer long-term profitability. In this evolving business landscape, Varun Beverages, along with refreshing billions of consumers through its ever-expanding portfolio of beverages, prioritizes environmental stewardship, social responsibility and robust governance practices.
Together, these will help us meet our ESG Goals of optimizing carbon footprints, promoting social equity, and adding more value to our employees, vendors, suppliers and other stakeholders.
Growth and sustainability are mutually inclusive concepts at Varun Beverages; one cannot happen without the other. In this context, our business strategy and growth enablers are closely tied to our ESG priorities and its key pillars: Environmental Protection, Social Capital, Human Capital Development, Business Model & Innovation, and Leadership & Governance. Prioritizing the material aspects under each of these pillars help us to consistently focus on most significant sustainability issues and create long-term value for our stakeholders.
This report covers the sustainability initiatives taken and progress made in CY 2023 in detail. Flipping through the pages will give you an insight on the processes initiated and actions taken across environment, social and governance aspects of our ESG policy. It also defines our plans for the future, establishing our ambitious goals to recycle plastic waste by 2025, achieve water positivity as well as improve our renewable energy share by 2030.
Refreshing billions of consumers comes with the responsibility to ensure that we leave minimum environmental footprints as we do so. As a responsible business, we take significant initiatives to optimize resource efficiency, reduce and manage waste and increase our share of renewable energy.
Reduce, reuse and recycle served as a key mantra across the value chain in CY 2023. Continued engagement with GEM Enviro Management Pvt. Ltd. built up awareness about waste management and pushed waste collection. In addition, alliance with Deutsch Quality Systems (India) Private Limited enabled measurement and improvement in the Company’s carbon footprint and water footprint assurance.
Achieving water positivity through focused initiatives for water stewardship, including pond adoption, maintenance and rejuvenation, continued to remain a key priority during the year. This resulted in positive water recharge and reaped multiple benefits for the farmer community. Emphasis on responsible sourcing of raw materials from suppliers who follow PepsiCo’s Global Supplier Code of Conduct also helped us to achieve desirable environmental and social impact.
Our deep-rooted commitment and care for our employees, contractors, and consumers reflects through a bunch of health, safety and quality measures that we took throughout the year. An ESG linked incentive framework was implemented to steer our employees to follow sustainable practices and contribute to the Company’s ESG goals. Consistent efforts towards building a safe, nurturing and inclusive work-environment supported by continuous training and development resulted in a culture of diversity, performance and growth. Equal efforts were placed towards boosting employee health and wellness.
Safety is paramount to us. DuPont Safety Solutions was engaged for implementing best practices in safety at all of our manufacturing plants in India. A robust safety strategy supported by an incident management system, continuous trainings, and strict vigilance has also been put in place to drive zero incidents at workplace. An Employee Passport and Contractor Safety Management System further tracks and ensures contractor safety.
Manufacturing and distributing safe and high-quality products forms the core of our social responsibility. Year after year, we have successfully achieved this goal with our commitment to responsible and ethical sourcing and manufacturing practices; conformation with global quality standards; transparent product labelling; and sustainable marketing strategy. Persistent focus on aligning with the changing needs of our consumers have also inspired us to provide an assortment of product mix with healthier and low sugar beverage options for refreshment.
Our robust governance framework and well-structured policies and practices serve an instrumental role in driving ethical conduct, accountability and transparency within the system and all its stakeholders. We take pride in expanding the reach of our rigorous policies to include contractors and suppliers, prioritizing an ESG-centric approach. A crisis management team has also been formed and is regularly trained to ensure business continuity in case of an adversity. Our commitment to corporate governance has garnered many awards and accolades.
Our sustainability agenda includes uplifting the underprivileged and beneficiaries from economically weaker sections through initiatives that provide them better access to education, health and livelihoods. In the education sphere, we collaborated with Shiksha Kendra School to provide free education and related resources to 32,500+ underprivileged students.
Ten AARU Clinics in India and one in Nepal were set-up near our manufacturing sites with the objective of providing free healthcare services to marginalized communities residing in the rural areas. 110,000+ beneficiaries received free medical assistance, medicines and underwent diagnostic tests under this initiative. Pravah, another initiative by VBL, empowered the unemployed youth through skill development and provision of sustainable livelihood opportunities. 17,000+ youth were trained under this initiative.
For the world to become a better place, each of us needs to take consistent sustainable action. Our steadfast commitment to sustainability in the recent years is demonstrated through our initiatives and their significant impact. Through an indomitable spirit and continuous innovations, we aspire to steer our ESG journey further and inspire several others to pave the way towards a brighter, more sustainable future.
Together, let us make responsible decisions and take conscious action to protect our environment and create equal and consistent opportunities for the communities we live and operate in.
Warm Regards,
Promoter, Executive Vice-Chairman and Whole-time Director
